The last time he ran to represent the 22nd Senate District, Mark Peake placed third in a tight five-way Republican primary.
The district was newly redrawn in 2011, splitting off eastern Lynchburg to stretch from Goochland County to that section of the Hill City. Peake said he hadn’t intended on running when he was represented by Sen. Steve Newman, R-Bedford County, but the district came to him.
“My wife and I, family, were just going door to door, which you really can’t do in a district that’s 200,000 people and covers the square mileage that this one does. We really didn’t know what we were doing and just kind of flailing away, and it showed,” said Peake, 53.
Rep. Tom Garrett, R-5th, who was sworn into Congress last week, won the district with 58 percent over Lynchburg Democrat Bert Dodson that year. Peake took 22 percent to Garrett’s 26 percent in the primary.
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This time, Peake — who chaired the Lynchburg Republican Committee from 2006 to 2012 — took a head start and recruited support throughout the district before the seat even opened. He announced his candidacy in February, not long after Garrett began running to replace retiring Republican congressman Robert Hurt.
“We got good solid citizens in every locality to support us and to … introduce us to people to spread the word, to volunteer to put up signs, to sign up delegates going back to the convention. That is the key, the fact that we had solid, credible people working for us in every locality,” Peake said.
Peake was running for six months before Goochland County Supervisor Ken Peterson, who Peake defeated by a wide margin in the Dec. 3 Republican caucus, announced his candidacy.
By the time his current opponents — former Fluvanna County sheriff Ryant Washington and Independent and engineering consultant Joe Hines —announced in December, the Republican Peake had been running for 10 months.
“This is the Virginia state Senate. This isn’t dog catcher. You cannot put together a credible campaign in the 22nd District, which covers nine localities and three separate media markets, in a month,” Peake said.
The three candidates are running to win Tuesday’s special election to replace Garrett.
Peake and his wife, Lila, have five children including a set of 19-year-old quadruplets born premature under the care of a specialist, Peake said. He’s grateful to the community, in particular Centenary United Methodist Church members who helped care for the family.
Peake, a Roanoke city native, moved to Lynchburg about 20 years ago, he said. He works as an attorney at Caskie & Frost representing defendants who are being sued, often in relation to insurance claims.
Peake was appointed to the Commonwealth’s Transportation Board in 2010 by then-governor Bob McDonnell. He represented the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Lynchburg District on the board until 2014.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe removed Peake, who had been a vocal advocate for the U.S. 29 bypass around Charlottesville, along with five other appointees ahead of a vote on $13.1 billion of transportation projects, The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress reported in 2014.
As one of two candidates calling themselves conservatives, Peake said he’s guided by the Republican creed. In a campaign forum speech, he highlighted social issues important to him.
“I am the conservative Republican candidate in this race,” Peake said. “... My issues, I’m pro-life. I am pro-family. I am pro-second amendment, and I believe in traditional marriage, and I believe that God gave us our private parts, one reason was so we would know where to go to the bathroom.”
Regarding fiscal conservatism, Peake said in an interview he believes in lower taxes, less regulations and freer markets.
According to campaign finance reports filed last week for the period ending Dec. 29, Peake has raised $123,356 since July. His report shows he has a balance of $1,687, but campaign manager Josh Puccio said he would be filing an amended report.
Along with $27,000 through two of state Sen. Steve Newman’s political action committees, Peake received a $59,951 in-kind contribution from the Republican Party of Virginia. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus donated $17,150 to Peake’s campaign on Thursday, after the reporting period.
Through six years as Lynchburg Republican Committee chairman working with presidential, congressional, state legislature and statewide races, Peake learned about a wide range of political operations. During part of that time, he also served as a representative on the party’s state central committee as well as its 6th Congressional District Committee.
“You learn it from the inside out, Peake said, “the part that most of the public doesn’t see, thank goodness.”